Chapter 14: Chapter 13

Chapter 13

His parents felt sorry for Enon, so they gave top-tier households to their older son to manage. But how can a person who’s been coddled inside the castle all his life, know how to manage them? He was doing fine at first, but when his parents died and became the head of the household, everything became a complete mess.

“Y-Your Majesty must not know about it since you are still young, but we usually use our subsidies flexibly!” A nobleman shouted with all his might. Noah stared down at him. The nobleman trembled at his intimidating glare.

“Are you done with it?”

He stiffened, “Excuse me?”

“Your will.”

Splash!

Noah’s sword severed another nobleman’s neck. The other nobles who saw the miserable scene shed tears. Fools. They thought that as long as they weren’t too obvious and didn’t take too much for self-interest, they could still use the subsidies ‘flexibly’.

The former lord was an idiot and didn’t know much about anything, so people would often cheat under his nose. When Noah became the lord, these noblemen were thrilled, thinking how he would be clueless regarding state affairs because the only thing he did was to fight in wars.

But now, they realize they were sorely mistaken.

Splash!

“Next.”

Another man was cleaved in two. They all begged for their life, but it was all for naught.

“Dispose of their corpses. Either have their sons or daughters replace the position of their deceased father, or replace it with someone else entirely.”

“Yes, sire.”

“Tell them that if they do the same thing their parents have done, then I have no choice but to ‘visit’ them personally.”

It was a clear threat, meaning if you fooled around or plotted revenge, you were only inviting death upon yourself.

Sebastian responded in affirmation and took note of his words.

“Go back to the castle and take care of the rest of the papers. Follow me.” Noah got on his horse, Sebastian and the knights followed him closely.

As Noah returned to the castle, he went straight to the bathroom to wash off the blood. He wasn’t even served by his maids who flocked towards him in a hurry.

He didn’t want Adele to be frightened by seeing him in this state. He quickly changed into his indoor outfit and headed straight to the office. The servants who were standing in a line could hardly swallow their saliva from the tension in the room.

“Bring me the top-tier households’ capital statement.”

As Noah sat down on the chair in front of the desk, Sebastian handed him the statement he was holding. He scrutinized it quietly, then he frowned. He scanned the paperwork again. Truly this time, the details of use of the operating funds were clearly indicated. The funds’ manager shivered in trepidation.

“It’s clean. How so?”

“The lady had managed it.”

“Indeed?” Noah smirked and smiled. Sebastian’s eyes widened at his friendly expression.

“Should I give you the other documents?”

“No, it’s okay. Did my wife manage all of the paperwork?”

“Sorry?” Sebastian was startled at the word ‘my wife’, but he managed to recollect himself answer calmly. “Yes, sire. But since a month ago, the late lord had started to manage it by himself.”

“Oh? But why would he?”

“It appears he was embarrassed, Your Majesty.”

“If he left everything for his wife to manage, he must have lost his prestige as a man.” True. It had only been two years since this family began to manage the top-tier households. Back then, it only started as a hobby for the late lord. He and his wife were already married when he started overseeing things.

Adele, who had been handling management all her life, was a more outstanding manager than him who knew nothing about the top-tier households. Sebastian was reminded of the late lord who loved how Adele had managed things, saying that with her in charge, it would always bring in profits.

He did not know how to manage his enormous wealth and knew only how to use it. Fortunately, he had a weak temper and therefore did not enjoy gambling or luxury.

“Would you like me to present a breakdown of your wife’s spendings?” An allowance was the money given to a woman by a man.

Noah raised his eyebrows. “No. I don’t need that.”

“It’s something you should deal with when you become the head of a household. If you say you don’t need it, I’ll back off.”

“Put it on my desk.” Hearing Noah’s words, Sebastian put the documents on the desk. He let out a sigh as he glanced at Adele’s allowance. As the duke’s wife, it was already very generous, but he didn’t know that in Noah’s eyes, it was such a poorly written amount.

In addition, the items in her expenditure were simple. It wasn’t used for any other purpose than to maintain her dignity. He thought of Adele dressed in a frugal fashion that was unlike other women and clicked his tongue. He knew that she didn’t have any greed to start with, but…

“Such a fool.”

“Sire?” Sebastian thought the lord was referring to him and was momentarily confused.

Noah felt that it was unacceptable. She didn’t know how to spend her life in luxury. Tsk. Noah, who was muttering and clicking his tongue, handed the papers back to his vassal.

“Raise the amount four times from now on.”

Speechless, Sebastian could only agree. “Yes, sire.”

The amount was enough to buy ten large chests full of jewels. Usually, husbands pay their wives’ allowance little by little. A lady’s luxury is usually very costly, so it was best to get permission from their husbands first if they wanted to purchase something highly expensive.

Sebastian rejoiced inwardly as he remembered the lady who had been working on paperwork all day long without having the time to even shop around boutique stores.

“Also, finish all those rabid dogs within this month.” Naturally, Noah was referring to those disobedient nobles.

“Yes, sire.”

“The lady should be aware that the former lord has died and should be clearing up things within the castle.”

“Yes, sire.”

“Oh, and who is in charge of the castle staffing?”

“The lady has always been in charge. However, I brought a batch of documents for you to inspect.” When Sebastian handed the document, Noah paused and took it from him.

In the document, different roles were assigned according to the characteristics and strengths of each servant. From their salaries to the cost of manpower at the castle, everything was neatly organized. He raised an eyebrow when he saw the neat typeface.

He praised, “As expected.”

“.…”

“Leave this for the lady to manage.” As the document was given to him, Sebastian thought Noah made a wise decision.

No matter how much he took successor classes on behalf of his ill older brother, he is seldom seen at the castle. On the other hand, Adele has been managing the servants for two years and has been in charge of the castle’s housekeeping so they have a certain level of respect for her.

Even if the new lord can excel at managing the family’s finances, it will be difficult to manage the servants like her.

“Yes, sire.”

“Tell my wife, no, the lady to do it like she had always done.”

“Yes, sire.”